Page 86 of Entangled

Ida snorts, then puts her hands over the kid’s ears. “She’ll be a lot more tired if she does get that one into bed, I’d wager.”

Damn right.

Eden starts tugging at my arm, and when I look down at her, I see her face is as cherry red as my old pick-up. I smirk at her, then let her drag me away, finally feeling a bit better about the whole humiliating experience.

Your man.

I stare at the librarian as she leads me away. She’s cleaned up since the fight yesterday—she got rid of the blood at least—but she’s still mussed up and sweaty and smudged with dirt from travel. Same as me. Same as most people here. That cave water was cold as shit. No one was doing more than a splash wash this morning unless they wanted to freeze their nips off.

At least her wrists are properly bandaged now. Won’t surprise me if those cuts scar.

We stop in a quieter part of the woods. The camp is near enough to hear and smell, but far enough that not every Ethel and Ida is going to stumble all over us. We’re well within the boundaries of the patrol, and they’re not even doing too shit of a job.

I look at her curiously, wondering what her plan is here.

Good girls don’t take bad boys out into the deep dark woods.

Not unless they’re planning on being bad too.

But after a few minutes of watching her awkwardly examine every star-lit tree around us like it’s even more fascinating than the one before it, I snort. This girl is so in her own head, she has no clue how to get out.

“I’m going back to camp.”

She snaps up, finally looking at me. “No, wait. Don’t.”

“Don’t?” I stroll toward her, and she flattens herself against her favorite tree. Nervously, she pushes her glasses back up her nose—and damn if that move doesn’t get me every time.

I smirk as I close in on her. It’s so much more fun being the hunter.

“You want to let me in on why you dragged me out here, Miss Manners?”

This close, I can smell her. And without all the fancy shampoos and expired perfumes, I know it’s just her. Raw and real as it gets. She swallows, her nostrils flaring gently, and my cock stirs. I want to fist my hand around that throat. I want to feel that swallow.

“I—” Her gaze drops to my mouth, but then she drags it away. And whatever she’s looking at in the night-time brings back that harried look on her face.

She takes my hand again, and it’s so... innocent. I stare down at it, baffled, but my fingers are wrapping around hers before I can think twice about it.

The princess is holding my hand.

“I just... don’t want to be alone tonight,” she whispers. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

And my skin prickles all the way up my back.

Because she doesn’t sound like she’s trying to ride my dick—she soundsscared.

“Why? What happened?” My voice comes out about five times harsher than I mean it to, and when she flinches, I scowl.

The gentle coddling thing ain’t my style.

At all.

“Nothing happened,” she says, and at my huff, she scowls back. “It didn’t!”

“Yeah, sure thing, sweetheart. You just suddenly developed a fear of the sandman, and now you need me to run him off for you.”

I swear to God, I’ll rip apart whoever put that look on her face. She’s been through enough. She’s meant to be okay now.

She hides those big eyes from me again, stiffening, and I realize I’m making it worse.

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